Annie Hall – Movie Review

I finally got around to seeing Annie Hall (1977) and I was not disappointed.

The film follows Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) through several romantic relationships, from what seems to be his mid-twenties to his forties, focusing on his relationship with the titular character, Annie Hall (Diane Keaton).

It reminded me a bit of Seinfeld; not just because the male leads are Jewish comedians in NYC, but because much of the humor draws on the protagonist’s mild dislike of other people and certain occurrences in everyday life. The dialogue and rants in Annie Hall are entertaining to watch, nicely bolstered by the neurotic mannerisms of the lead characters.

Having seen numerous references to this movie growing up, I was unable to detach myself from said references while watching the film. My mind kept going back to How I Met Your Mother (there’s an episode in which Ted determines how cool his dates are based on whether they like Annie Hall; the HIMYM writers, inadvertently or not, also draw a parallel between Ted and Alvy who both spend years upon years figuring out and finding love) and That 70’s Show (which sort of “parodies” a particular scene).

I enjoyed the style of the film, e.g., breaking of the fourth wall, the split-screen simultaneous “analyst” scene (which I think That 70’s Show used quite often), the bit with Marshall McLuhan, and random strangers chiming in as if they’d been privy to the prior dialogue. It was helpful that Ted Mosby and HIMYM taught me Annie Hall was the first to break the fourth wall, otherwise I might have been biased against its use (probably not, though).